Bail Money

(CNSNews.com) – Tax Freedom Day will arrive this year on April 24 – 114 days into the year – according to a report from the Tax Foundation.

“Tax Freedom Day is the day when the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay its federal, state, and local tax bill for the year,” explained the Tax Foundation. “Tax Freedom Day takes all federal, state, and local taxes and divides them by the nation’s income. In 2015, Americans will pay $3.28 trillion in federal taxes and $1.57 trillion in state and local taxes, for a total tax bill of $4.85 trillion, or 31 percent of national income. This year, Tax Freedom Day falls on April 24, or 114 days into the year.

“This year, Americans will work the longest to pay federal, state, and local individual income taxes (43 days),” the report stated. “Payroll taxes will take 26 days to pay, followed by sales and excise taxes (15 days), corporate income taxes (12 days), and property taxes (11 days). The remaining 7 days are spent paying estate and inheritance taxes, customs duties, and other taxes.

“Tax Freedom Day is a significant date for taxpayers and lawmakers because it represents how long Americans as a whole have to work in order to pay the nation’s tax burden,” explained the Tax Foundation.

Another privilege bulletin board has surfaced in an Appalachian State University residence hall, urging students to “check their privilege”—this time, their Christian privilege.

According to photos exclusively obtained by Campus Reform, a pastel bulletin board across from an elevator in Cannon Hall reads “Unpacking Christian Privilege” with several statements on how Christians have “privilege.”

“The Christian faith is taught or offered as a course at most public high schools, usually in the form of a literature class,” one statement reads.

“Positive references to Christian faith are common, regardless of faith,” another statement said.

Brantley McDonald, a freshman computer science major at App State, emailed the University Housing administrators about the board but has yet to receive a reply.

“Residence areas should be a safe and comfortable area for everyone,” McDonald told Campus Reform.

“You don’t have to preach tolerance by singling out one major religion,” he said. “Also, if they are concerned with systematic issues, they should have that discussion with their elected officials and not the students in the residences they manage.”

… It’s safe to say MSNBC has the least to brag about for this quarter.

Their press releases focused mostly on March 2015 ratings rather than the quarter, and this is likely why: For Q1 2015, MSNBC’s weekday primetime experienced a 45% decrease in key 25-54 demo viewership from Q1 2014. The network’s total daytime demo viewership declined 39% from Q1 2014. Additionally, a key program like The Rachel Maddow Show hit an all-time low in quarterly demo ratings since its Sept. 2008 launch.

In total day and weekday primetime demo ratings, MSNBC hit its lowest quarterly levels in 10 years (since Q2 2005), and its lowest quarter of total viewership since the last quarter of 2007.

Bill Clinton made news when he declared nearly 20 years ago that the era of big government is over. Voters still prefer smaller, cheaper government but clearly recognize that Barack Obama, the next Democrat after Clinton to be in the White House, has reversed that trend.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 12% of Likely U.S. Voters now agree that “the era of big government is over.” That’s down from 18% last October and ties the lowest finding last measured in February of last year. Most voters (55%) disagree with that assessment, but a sizable 32% are not sure.

A professor at Connecticut College wrote a Facebook post in August comparing Hamas to a “rabid pit bull” and justifying Israel’s blockade. A student complained about it in February. The prof took it down and apologized to those who thought he was slurring Palestinians.

Now he’s on leave, accusing his antagonists of “deliberately trying to silence and even threaten pretty much the only Jewish professor on campus who openly advocates for Israel,” Andrew Pessin tells WTNH.

That’s not all – the school cancelled classes Monday and required students to attend events for a “campuswide conversation on racism, equity and inclusion,” and now its social media policy is under review, by the school’s own account.

A young mother has been savagely mutilated by ISIS – for breastfeeding in public.

Islamic State (ISIS) has a record of treating women appallingly. But a new report has revealed just how barbaric its regime can be. […]

Recently, one 24-year-old woman in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, Syria was recently accosted by the Al-Khansa brigade for breastfeeding her baby in public.

Her account of the resulting punishment is hair-raising.

“[T]hey took me to the ‘Hesba’ headquarters in the city, and escorted me to the torture chamber, then they asked me to choose between a whip or a ‘biter’,” the woman told anti-ISIS group A-Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently.

“They brought a sharp object that has a lot of teeth and held me, placing it on my chest and pressing it strongly,” the young woman, nicknamed Batol to protect her identity, said.

“I screamed from pain and I was badly injured. They later took me to the hospital… I felt then that my femininity has been destroyed completely.” […]

The device “resembles the type of animal trap that closes on an animal’s legs when he touches it,” Ms Ibrahim a-Raqawi explained to Syria Direct. “The biter is like a jaw, when you press on it sharp teeth emerge.”

The horrific torture instrument is similar to the Spider, also known as the Spanish Spider due to its use during the Spanish Inquisition for the crimes of adultery and abortion. It has spikes or “teeth” on the end, and was used in the Middle Ages to shred or rip off the breasts of women accused of various ‘crimes’.

The stunning revelation that Hillary Clinton wiped her personal e-mail server clean is the kind of political cover-up that should have sent the networks into overdrive, except they had an even more important agenda to advance: smearing an entire state and its Republican governor as anti-gay bigots.

From the morning of March 27 through March 30 evening the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) networks spent only 10 minutes and 15 seconds to the admission by Clinton’s own attorney that her State Department e-mails were wiped from the server that had been subpoenaed by Congress, but they devoted a whopping 35 minutes and 1 seconds to coverage of the Indiana religious freedom law.

The erasing of 18 and-a-half minutes of tape in the Nixon White House was considered an impeachable offense by the liberal media, but the deletion of Clinton e-mails that spanned the Benghazi investigation wasn’t the top story of the week. The networks found a more compelling object of obsession to cover in the last few days: A Republican governor signing a bill into law that merely underscores the First Amendment protection to people of faith.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced on Tuesday that he is banning all non-essential state-funded travel to Indiana in response to a state law that critics say would allow businesses to deny service to gay people.

“Today, I direct all agencies, departments, boards and commissions to immediately review all requests for state funded or state sponsored travel to the State of Indiana and to bar any such publicly funded travel that is not essential to the enforcement of state law or public health and safety,” Cuomo said in a statement.

“The ban on publicly funded travel shall take effect immediately,” he continued. “New York State has been, and will continue to be, a leader in ensuring that all LGBT persons enjoy full and equal civil rights. With this action, we stand by our LBGT family members, friends and colleagues to ensure that their rights are respected.”

The Pentagon is considering spending billions of dollars on three new Boeing 747s to use as Air Force One, the aircraft that shuttles the United States president.

According to CBS News, the current Air Force One fleet is getting old, and the U.S. military says it’s time for a new generation to carry future commanders in chief.

“We’ve got a pretty good size team working on it,” said Air Force Col. Amy McCain, who is in charge of ordering the new Air Force One, according to the station.

McCain’s team has grown to 80 people from 20 in the past year. The team is expected to swell to 100 shortly.

Budget paperwork shows the military requested from Congress $102 million this year to buy the planes, with the numbers growing to more than $3 billion over the next five years. Those numbers do not include the final three years of the project, CBS reported.

Questions linger as to whether taxpayers can afford to buy a new presidential plane.

I thank President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and the Government of Egypt for inviting me to address this Summit of the League of Arab States at this pivotal time.

I sincerely hope that under the able leadership of President el-Sisi will address many challenges and issues of this region.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation to his Highness the Amir of Kuwait for his leadership during this past year as the President of the League of Arab States.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Four years ago, a generation of Arabs rose against tyranny. Last year, this effort bore fruit in Tunisia.

Tunisia became a model for the region and beyond. Yet the recent terrorist attack in Tunis highlights how extremists are targeting innocents and the fragile democratic process itself.

Today, war and violence in the region, reprehensible acts of terrorism, and the seemingly endless Israeli occupation of Palestine are causing enormous suffering. The impact of all these threats transcends the Arab world. They pose a direct challenge to international peace and security.

To counter these trends, we must address the root causes that fuel extremism and violence. Even when security measures are needed, reliance on military approaches alone will not solve these problems.

And security responses must be done in a way that protects human rights and dignity.

Fighting extremism while committing abuses is not only wrong, it is counter-productive.

Wherever this is tried, we find that the appeal for extremism actually increases. Without good governance, the rule of law, respect for women’s rights and all human rights, long-term political stability will remain a mirage.

NASCAR has joined the growing number of businesses to criticize a controversial Indiana law that critics say allows discrimination against gay people.

The nation’s leading stock car racing organization, which is set to hold a major race Indianapolis in July, said Tuesday it’s disappointed by the so-called religious freedom law signed last week by Gov. Mike Pence.

“We will not embrace nor participate in exclusion or intolerance,” said NASCAR, which is based in Florida and North Carolina. “We are committed to diversity and inclusion within our sport and therefore will continue to welcome all competitors and fans at our events in the state of Indiana and anywhere else we race.”

The statement came even as Pence said in a press conference that he would “fix” the law to clarify that it does not condone discrimination against gays and lesbians.

PENCE: “I think it is explained by the fact this was grossly mischaracterized by advocates who oppose the bill and quite frankly from sloppy reporting for the first several days, so I really do believe that. I mean look, if I read some of the stuff about this bill, I would have had the same concern millions of Hoosiers had and people across the country have had. It just isn’t so. When President Clinton signed the bill in 1993 they said the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was the most important legislation considered by Congress since the First Amendment was approved. When state senator Barack Obama voted for this bill in Illinois, it was with broad, bipartisan support. One of the great pieces of legislative history of religious freedom restoration act is it is a way of bringing people together, consensus.

Last week, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana signed into law the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Almost immediately, an uproar ensued, claiming that the law was discriminatory — that it provided a license for businesses to discriminate against gay and lesbian customers. Entirely lost in this kerfuffle has been the simple fact that the Indiana law is modeled on the 1993 federal law of the same name, and that counterparts have been adopted in 19 other states. Further, four federal courts of appeals and the Obama Justice Department have all taken the position that RFRA can be used as a defense in private suits involving the enforcement of laws that substantially burden free exercise of religion. Important debates over the intersection of faith and equality are impaired when they are overtaken by misguided rhetoric, rather than being informed by the history and context of how our legal system has treated this issue. […]

Joining the Second, Eighth, Ninth, and D.C. Circuits in finding that RFRA can be asserted as a defense in a private cause of action is the Holder Justice Department. In August of 2012, the United States Government stated that Wheaton College, if sued by an employee for failing to provide insurance that covered contraceptives, “in its defense of such an action, would have an opportunity to raise its contention that the contraceptive coverage requirement violates” RFRA. Yes, you read that right. The Obama Administration held that a corporation, albeit a non-profit one, could defend itself against a private claim from an employee by asserting that the Obamacare’s contraception mandate imposes a “substantial burden” on its free exercise of religion. That is to say, the most controversial aspect of the new Indiana religious-freedom law was blessed by Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department. This position is directly at odds with the views of Sotomayor, Posner, and others. Again, none of this was particularly controversial until fairly recently.

Maybe you don’t want to pose with cheese eating grin for the camera, makes it a lot easier to identify you.

ST. LOUIS • Police have arrested three suspects in an attack last week in which a MetroLink rider was beaten after one of several men asked him about the Michael Brown “situation.”

A police source confirmed the arrests Monday evening and said more information would be released soon.

A video posted to Facebook appears to show the attack March 23 on the 43-year-old man, and MetroLink released surveillance images of suspects.

Police said the victim, who is white, was punched and kicked by three black men, one of whom had made the reference to the teen killed in Ferguson by a police officer Aug. 9.

The assault took place about 8:54 p.m. as the eastbound train was nearing the Forest Park Metrolink platform, police said. The victim told police he was seated when the three men approached him from behind.

Hotel accommodations for First Lady Michelle Obama’s two-day trip to Cambodia required 85 rooms and cost taxpayers $242,500, according to a government contract released Friday.

Mrs. Obama traveled to Siem Reap, Cambodia on March 21 to promote a girls education initiative. A contract was awarded on March 3, citing the “unusual and compelling urgency” of the First Lady’s trip.

Mrs. Obama and a delegation of senior high-level U.S. government officials stayed at the Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf and Spa Resort, according to a justification and approval document for the visit.

The trip required 85 single rooms, five office suites, five sleeping suites, and one conference room for 14 nights. Mrs. Obama herself only stayed in Cambodia for two days, leaving on March 22.

The Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra is listed as a luxury five-star hotel.

“The Siem Reap hotel, which elegantly combines Khmer and French architectural design, features landscaped gardens, [five] restaurants and bars, meeting facilities, a luxury spa and the largest free form swimming pool in Cambodia,” according to Accor, the French hotel operator that manages the hotel. “The leading luxury resort in Siem Reap also boosts a world-class 18-hole golf course at the Phokeethra Country Club, which is only a 25 [minute] drive from the hotel.”
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